West Bromwich Albion boss Roberto Di Matteo has called upon his players to keep fighting after Saturday's defeat to Stoke made it four defeats for the Baggies in their past five Premier League games.

Albion had the better of the first-half exchanges at the Hawthorns but fell behind 10 minutes after the restart when referee Chris Foy adjudged Scott Carson to have fouled Kenwyne Jones in the box and Matthew Etherington tucked away the resulting penalty.

Substitute Jon Walters then converted another spot-kick in the 85th minute before firing in his second goal in stoppage time to wrap up a 3-0 victory for the visitors.

Having started the season impressively and risen as high as fourth in the table last month, West Brom have now taken only one point from the past 15 on offer.

Di Matteo admits that as the team's form has slumped so has the mood in the camp, but with more than half the campaign still to go, the Italian wants his charges to pick themselves up quickly and focus on the challenges that lie ahead.

"At the moment we are a bit down, I have to be honest, because obviously we haven't picked up many points from the last few games," Di Matteo said.

"We need to roll our sleeves up, work harder, try harder and keep going, keep fighting. There are a lot of points to play for we must keep going.

"It is a difficult league and we knew that and that is exactly how it is at the moment."

Di Matteo felt his side played well in spells but suffered due to errors both on their own part and that of the referee, whose penalty decisions he thought were harsh.

"We need to be a little bit more clinical when we get chances, and also defensively - before the first penalty incident we had a chance to defend it, but just headed it back into Ricardo Fuller's feet," Di Matteo said.

"But that first penalty changes the game.

"That is how it is going at the minute - we try to limit the opposition's chances and try to create our own, but we are not getting much joy in scoring and on the other hand, there have been a few decisions against us.

"We are in the games, but those little decisions - of our players as well - are maybe not the right ones, and then you lose the game. But it was very harsh."

Stoke manager Tony Pulis, whose team have now won three matches in a row, revealed he had had "a little bit of a go" at his players during the interval after they had struggled to impose themselves on proceedings in the opening period.

"I thought West Brom played their part in the game," said Pulis. "It was a pretty open game in the first half and they moved the ball around quickly.

"The good thing for us was that they never had that many clear-cut chances, but I was a little bit disappointed and we had a little bit of a go at them at half time."

Meanwhile, Di Matteo remains unsure when influential Baggies midfielder Chris Brunt, who missed the contest after sustaining a groin injury while on international duty with Northern Ireland, will be fit to return to action.

"We hope that he might recover for the next game (at Everton on Saturday) but he is still a doubt," Di Matteo said. "We will have to see how this week goes."